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A Beginner's Glossary
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I have been a student of A Course in Miracles since 1979 and have been teaching it since 1988. In my initial study of the Course, I found that I had great difficulty understanding its content because of the fact that I was applying my old, traditional definitions to the words that I read in the book. This natural tendency made understanding the concepts presented in the Course quite difficult, if not impossible. I realized quite early in my reading that A Course in Miracles really has a unique language all its own. As I began to understand that language, and the true meaning of the words, I was then able to begin to comprehend the concepts embodied in the Course as a whole.
In my work, I noticed that the Course uses many words interchangeably or synonymously. In recognition of this fact, I have listed these companion words in my book following the pertinent words from the Course. I wish to emphasize the fact that my book is not meant to be a substitute for the Course itself, but is merely intended to aid the reader in studying the principles upon which the Course is based.
ATONEMENT: Forgiveness, Salvation
The Atonement process occurred the instant the belief in separation crept into our mind. This process of undoing the separation will be finished when every separated Son has completed his part, which is total forgiveness.
In forgiveness, we forgive as much as we can. After this process (forgiveness) we experience peace for a duration of time. Now we are ready to learn more lessons and remove more guilt usually buried "subconsciously."
In the Atonement principle, we have forgiven completely and therefore realize our oneness with our brother and God. It could be said that Atonement is Level One, and forgiveness is Level Two.
Atonement does not mean at-one-ment, as is some new thought movements. It also doesn't refer to atoning for one's sins.
ACIM References to Atonement
Pg. 2T (Pg. 2T SE) -"Miracles are part of an interlocking chain of forgiveness which, when completed, is the Atonement."
Pg. 17T (Pg. 20T SE) -"The Atonement is the final lesson. Learning itself, like the classrooms in which it occurs, is temporary. The ability to learn has no value when change is no longer necessary. The eternally creative have nothing to learn."
Pg. 19T (Pg. 23T SE) -"Our emphasis is now on healing. The miracle is the means, the Atonement is the principle, and healing is the result."
Pg.75T (Pg. 81T SE) -"The Atonement must be understood as a pure act of sharing."
Pg. 555 (Pg. 598T SE) -"Accepting the Atonement for yourself means not to give support to someone's dream of sickness and of death."
Pg. 46 MT (Pg. 48 MT SE) -"The sole responsibility of God's teacher is to accept the Atonement for himself. Atonement means correction, or the undoing of errors. When this has been accomplished, the teacher of God becomes a miracle worker by definition."
Pg 53 MT (Pg. 55 MT SE) -"Healing and Atonement are not related; they are identical."
Pg 73 MT (Pg. 77 MT SE) -"It is concerned only with Atonement, or the correction of perception. The means of the Atonement is forgiveness."
Body: Ego's temple, Learning device, Hero, Unmindful, Communication medium, Engine of destruction, Home of madness
The body came into existence when the thought of separation entered the Son of God. This thought had to be projected outward. This thought, being projected, created the world and body.
From the ego's view, the body is its home and is used for specialness and separation, as well as for proof that the body can't be of God. The ego also states that the body is the cause of pleasure and pain, thereby making the mind the effect.
Much like everything in this world, the Holy Spirit gives the body another function. The body is neutral, neither good nor bad, sick nor well. It is the mind that is sick, or the mind that is healed. That is why the Course is so adamant about bringing the problem back to its source, which is in the mind (not the body or world). The body is merely a physical instrument to facilitate our learning forgiveness in this incarnation.
ACIM References to Body
Pg. 60T (Pg. 66T SE) -"The body is the ego's home by its own election. It is the only identification with which the ego feels safe, since the body's vulnerability is its own best argument that you cannot be of God."
Pg. 97T (Pg. 105T SE) -"The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure and for pride. The insanity of this perception makes it a fearful one indeed. The Holy Spirit sees the body only as a means of communication, and because communication is sharing it becomes communion."
Pg. 372T (Pg. 399T SE) -"The inevitable compromise is the belief that the body must be healed, and not the mind."
Pg. 412T (Pg. 442T SE) -"The body is the sign of weakness, vulnerability and loss of power. Can such a savior help you? Would you turn in your distress and need for help unto the helpless? Is the pitifully little the perfect choice to call upon for strength?"
Pg. 472 (Pg. 508T SE) -"Of itself the body can do nothing. See it as a means to hurt, and it is hurt. See it as means to heal, and it is healed."
Pg. 30MT (Pg. 31MT SE) -"Yet what makes God's teachers is their recognition of the proper purpose of the body. As they advance in their profession, they become more and more certain that the body's function is but to let God's Voice speak through it to human ears."
EGO: Anti-Christ, Grandiosity, Littleness, Self Concept, Untrue, Untruth
The ego is the belief in the reality of separation. From this point of view, our belief shows us that we can be separated both from God and our brother. At the moment the thought of separation entered our mind, we created a false self to substitute for our true Self. This thought of separation gave rise to guilt, fear the manifestation of the body and the belief in attack to defend oneself.
The ego is the part of the split mind that believes it is separated from the Mind of Christ. It can be looked upon as the analytical mind.
ACIM References to EGO
Pg. 37T (Pg. 42T SE) -"The ego is the wrong-minded attempt to perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you are."
Pg. 55T (Pg. 60T SE) -"It is surely apparent by now why the ego regards Spirit as its 'enemy.' The ego arose from the separation, and its continued existence depends on your continuing belief in the separation. The ego must offer you some sort of reward for maintaining this belief. All it can offer is a sense of temporary existence, which begins with its own beginning and ends with its own ending. It tells you this life is your existence because it is its own."
Pg. 61T (Pg.67T SE) -"The ego does not recognize the real source of 'threat' and if you associate yourself with the ego, you do not understand the situation as it is. Only your allegiance to it gives the ego any power over you."
Pg. 164T (pg. 175T SE) -"The ego is also in your mind, because you have accepted it there. Its evaluation of you, however, is the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit's, because the ego does not love you."
Pg. 207T (Pg. 223T SE) -"The ego is certain that love is dangerous, and this is always its central teaching. It never puts it this way; on the contrary, everyone who believes that the ego is salvation seems to be intensely engaged in the search of love."
HELL
In one aspect, hell has the same meaning as the hell of traditional Christianity, a world after death where we are punished for our sins. It also means the belief that we must suffer in the future for our past mistakes. Both of the above meanings are ego based. In the spirit realm (God) hell is impossible because God has no opposite, and we never separated from Him. God is all inclusive and omnipresent.
All ego thoughts can also be thought of as hell.
ACIM References to HELL
Pg. 280T (Pg. 301T SE) -"The ego is an ally of time, but not a friend. For it is as mistrustful of death as it is of life, and what it wants for you it cannot tolerate. The ego wants you dead, but not itself. The outcome of its strange religion must therefore be the conviction that it can pursue you beyond the grave. And out of its unwillingness for you to find peace even in death, it offers you immortality in hell. It speaks to you of Heaven, but assures you that Heaven is not for you. How can the guilty hope for Heaven? The belief in hell is inescapable to those who identify with the ego."
Pg. 281T (Pg. 238T SE) -"The Holy Spirit teaches thus: There is no hell. Hell is only what the ego has made of the present."
Pg. 232WB (Pg. 238WB SE) -"Accept a little part of hell as real, and you have damned your eyes and cursed your sight, and what you will behold is hell indeed."
Pg. 36MT (Pg. 37MT SE) -"To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God's teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected."
Pg. 83MT (Pg. 88MT SE) -"He will remain with you to lead you from the hell you made to God."
"A Course in Miracles"© is copyrighted by the Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"®, Roscoe, NY. The opinions and interpretations presented herein are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the copyright owner.
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